Can't detect SDHC

For a long time ive been using this sd reader with my SDHC cards on my pc without any issues, however this week they stopped working. Windows doesn't detect them at all. I tried a few other sdhc cards and they didn't work either however an old 2GB sd card did.

Thinking the reader was broken I bought this one to replace it and still windows wont detect shdc cards.
Ive tried the following with the iogear reader.

-2GB standard SD - works
-4GB, two 16GB SDHC - not detected
-8GB and 32GB micro-sdhc in sd adapter - not detected
-8GB and 32GB micro-sdhc in the micro sd slot - works

I don't understand whats going on, Its all running through the same chip on the reader and all the cards work fine when I tested them with a built in sd slot on a laptop and on other devices like a camera.

I suppose the iogear reader could be faulty as well but it seems odd that normal sd works but not sdhc. if it was broken you'd think neither would work in that slot and it wouldn't read cards in the microsd slot either.

Any ideas if this is a windows problem and how to fix it?

Thanks in advance.

I've had mixed success using SanDisk adapters to support my 32GB and 64GB microSDHC cards, in assorted readers as well as the SD card reader slot on an old internal USB interface combo-floppy disk drive I have that also has card slots.

However I've had no problem when the microSDHC cards are plugged directly into external USB card readers (like this wonderful one from IOGear) which have slots for microSDHC cards.

For the low cost, I'd just solve the problem by getting a new reader (like the one I pointed to) which has all the needed slot sizes and reads micro and SD size cards directly.

i came across a large thread about MacBook users with this problem and someone mentioned licking the sd card and it working. so i breathed on it instead of licking and success. im guessing this means there's some sort of contact issue with the reader and cards but why would regular SD cards work but not SDHC unless moistened?

nervx said:

i came across a large thread about MacBook users with this problem and someone mentioned licking the sd card and it working. so i breathed on it instead of licking and success. im guessing this means there's some sort of contact issue with the reader and cards but why would regular SD cards work but not SDHC unless moistened?

Different size gold connector strips I guess.

I have a similar story with the CatEye speedo I use on my bike. It slides into a bracket on the handlebar, and also slides out to remove it for example to change the battery. Anyway, periodically it will simply stop working (i.e. NOT registering front wheel rotation via the magnet attached onto a spoke passing by the magnetic field sensor mounted on the front fork with a wire going up to the bracket on the handlebar) as shown by NOT SHOWING ANY ACTIVE details on the display screen), as if the battery were dead. But the battery's not dead, and there are other indicators shown on the display screen to prove that... it's just not registering the rotating wheel, as if there was nothing electrical passing from the contacts on the handlebar bracket (fed by the magnetic field reader on the front fork) to the corresponding contacts on the speedo unit itself which is slid into the bracket. Seems that the contacts on the handlebar bracket are not making full electrical contact with the matching contacts on the unit that's slid into the bracket.

Well, my solution (like yours, and that Mac site recommendation) is to remove first the unit from the handlebar bracket. Then I lick my finger (to make it wet), and then wipe the two contacts on the underside of the speedo unit with my wet finger. I guess this cleans off any dirt or grease or corrosion-in-progress or whatever, from those two contacts on the unit. Then while they're both still wet, I slide the unit back into the handlebar bracket... presumably now making electrical contact better through the wet contacts on the unit.

VOILA!!! The speedo now works perfectly!

Sounds like a similar story with your reader and its contacts, mating properly with the card. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes not, but making the contacts wet lets the water act as a conductor to fill in the gap.

I'd still suggest you try out that 56-in-1 IOGear reader I pointed to. There is a card reader slot to read every card "native", with no adapter required. And the contacts are nice and tight. So there is one less set of contacts is involved when reading a card directly, hence why I've never had any problem whatsoever reading either SD cards or microSD cards through it.